Everything you need to know about the GeForce Now streaming platform
NVIDIA's entry into the streaming wars is seeing some impressive success and substantial challenges.
As companies compete and server technology improves, streaming games is becoming more and more of a viable option. You can use anything from the best gaming phones to your laptop as a great gaming machine, giving players more options than dropping hundreds or thousands on a separate console or gaming PC.
One recent major entrant is NVIDIA GeForce Now, a streaming service for PC games that players already own. Nvidia claims over a million players have tried it out so far. While some publishers are choosing not to support this streaming platform, it does have several major brands backing it. GeForce Now is a clearly viable option for games streaming, right on par with the likes of Google Stadia, Xbox Game Pass, and Amazon Luna.
Jump to:- What is GeForce Now?
- GeForce Now: List of supported devices
- Is GeForce Now free?
- Is GeForce Now still in beta?
- GeForce Now: List of games
GeForce Now is NVIDIA's streaming service. Unlike platforms like Stadia, it does not require buying games over again or limiting yourself to just one gaming library. Instead, players simply stream the PC games that they own on different storefronts, including Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Uplay.
Since the games are being streamed from NVIDIA hardware, this means that players can try out advanced graphics features like 4K HDR or ray-tracing - features that would otherwise cost quite a bit to get running on native hardware - on lesser platforms. You can use the service on other PCs and Macs, NVIDIA Shield devices, mobile devices, and more.
GeForce Now: List of supported devices
GeForce Now is compatible with PC, Mac, and Android. On PC and Mac, your device will need to meet certain baseline requirements, or you can guarantee compatibility with an NVIDIA Shield TV box. If you're uncertain if your device has the power to handle it, check our full list of GeForce Now compatible devices.
As far as internet bandwidth goes, you won't need an incredible amount of speed to connect to NVIDIA's datacenter, but you will need a pretty fast connection in order to stream at the most optimal settings. According to NVIDIA's site, the bandwidth requirements for streaming on GeForce Now are as follows:
- 10 Megabits per second - Required broadband connection speed
- 20 Megabits per second - Recommended for 720p 60FPS quality
- 50 Megabits per second - Recommended for 1080p 60FPS quality
- 60ms ping time to one of six NVIDIA datacenters world-wide
There is a free tier of GeForce Now, which allows you to play in one-hour sessions. The paid tier is $5 a month and includes higher priority access to start playing, as well as extended sessions that aren't limited to one hour. These options are known as the Free and Founder's versions, respectively.
| Free | Founders Membership | |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Standard | Priority |
| Playtime | One hour | Extended length |
| RTX | ||
| Free trial | No | Free for 90 days |
| Price | Free | $4.99/month for one year |
No. While it was in beta testing for several years, the streaming service exited beta testing back on Feb. 4, 2020. Since then, over a million players have tried out GeForce Now, as per NVIDIA.
GeForce Now list of gamesThe exact number of games available to players on GeForce Now is too great to list out, because there are a lot. NVIDIA claims that over 1,000 titles are compatible with the service, and keeps an updating list of games on its website in order for fans to make sure what they want to play will work on the streaming service.
On top of keeping their own curated list together, NVIDIA also highlights new games that come to the service every Thursday. Some of the biggest and best currently available on GeForce Now include:
- Outriders
- Dead by Daylight
- World of Tanks
- Dauntless
- Fortnite
- Warframe
- Control
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
NVIDIA's cloud game streaming service is one of the best available today, delivering lag-free gaming at 1080p/60 FPS. The best part about the service is that you don't need a high-end machine to run it, so there's a good chance you're already set. The $5 monthly plan also makes it an immediately enticing option for seasoned gamers.
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